Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

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СКАЧАТЬ it ²'Adonai-shalom'; unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him: 'Take thy father's bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; ²⁶and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down.' ²⁷Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had spoken unto him; and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. ²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. ²⁹And they said one to another: 'Who hath done this thing?' And when they inquired and asked, they said: 'Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.' ³⁰Then the men of the city said unto Joash: 'Bring out thy son, that he may die; because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by it.' ³¹And Joash said unto all that stood against him: 'Will ye contend for Baal? or will ye save him? he that will contend for him, shall be put to death before morning; if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar.' ³²Therefore on that day he was called ³Jerubbaal, saying: 'Let Baal contend against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

      ³³Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon; and he blew a horn; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. ³⁶And Gideon said unto God: 'If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken, ³⁷behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken.' ³⁸And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. ³⁹And Gideon said unto God: 'Let not Thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.' ⁴⁰And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

      7Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside En-harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by Gibeath-moreh, in the valley.

      ²And the Lord said unto Gideon: 'The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying: mine own hand hath saved me. ³Now therefore make proclamation in the ears of the people, saying: Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.' And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

      ⁴And the Lord said unto Gideon: 'The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be, that of whom I say to thee: This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee: This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.' ⁵So he brought down the people unto the water; and the Lord said unto Gideon: 'Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.' ⁶And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. ⁷And the Lord said unto Gideon: 'By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the people go every man unto his place.' ⁸So they took the victuals of the people in their hand, and their horns; and he sent all the men of Israel every man unto his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

      ⁹And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him: 'Arise, get thee down upon the camp; for I have delivered it into thy hand. ¹⁰But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy servant down to the camp. ¹¹And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down upon the camp.' Then went he down with Purah his servant unto the outermost part of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹²Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude. ¹³And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his follow, and saying: 'Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it that it fell, and turned it upside down, that the tent lay flat.' ¹⁴And his fellow answered and said: 'This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God hath delivered Midian, and all the host.'

      ¹⁵And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said: 'Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.' ¹⁶And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them horns, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. ¹⁷And he said unto them: 'Look on me, and do likewise; and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. ¹⁸When I blow the horn, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the horns also on every side of all the camp, and say: For the Lord and for Gideon!'

      ¹⁹So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch; and they blew the horns, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰And the three companies blew the horns, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the horns in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried: 'The sword for the Lord and for Gideon! ' ²¹And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and fled. ²²And they blew the three hundred horns, and the Lord set every man's sword a against his fellow, even throughout all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian. ²⁴And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying: 'Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.' So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the Rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the Winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

      8And the men of Ephraim said unto him: 'Why hast thou served us thus, that thou didst not call us when thou wentest to fight with Midian?' And they did chide with him sharply. ²And he said unto them: 'What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?' Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

      ⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. ⁵And he said unto the men of Succoth: 'Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow СКАЧАТЬ